Russian pollock fishermen to take bigger quota with emphasis on sustainability and controlled roe production
The fishermen of the Russian Far East are going to harvest the boosted quota 2009 of pollock in the Sea of Okhotsk with emphasis on sustainability and controlled roe production actually breaking down the Okhotsk season into A (roe pollock) and B (feeding pollock) parts, fishery sources in Vladivostok told http://www.fishnet-russia.com/ (https://www.fishnet.ru/).
The measure is called upon to prevent oversupply of roe for export markets and on the other hand it will serve as an effective conservation factor to boost abundance of the valuable resource for the fishermen who are now enjoying a 10-year entitlement to quota shares and are thinking in highly sustainable terms.
More specifically, in 2009 for the sake of sustainable exploitation and conservation of pollock resources the fishermen have been recommended to harvest ca.70% (a little more than 600,000 tonnes) in the stock's prespawning period, while the remaining part should be covered in the feeding period in autumn-winter. According to the scientific recommendations, active progressing of the quotas should take off not from the first days of January, but rather from the end of the month - early February when the fishery will be more efficient.
In January 2009 the bulk of the fleet will concentrate in the Sea of Okhotsk where the pollock expedition of the year will take off. By the way, the allowed pollock catches for the year 2009 have been increased nearly by 25%. More specifically, the pollock TACs in the fishing areas have been approved as follows: 289,600 tonnes in the North Okhotsk subarea, 311,400 tonnes in the West Kamchatka subarea, 220,000 tonnes in the Kamchatka Kurile subarea and 48,400 tonnes in the East Sakhalin subarea.
Pollock Association
Acting along the above lines, Vladivostok-based Pollock Association has voiced its support for the plan as instrumental in controlling catch and roe production towards better prices in 2009. The organization's release says that it has made a decision to harvest pollock in the Sea of Okhotsk in 2009 at the level of 2008, namely at 400,000 tonnes at the largest.
On 18 December 2008 the Association's council approved the form of Agreement on distribution of pollock catches in 2009 between the seasons A and B. The agreement was prepared with regard to the agreement of 2006 on limiting the pollock roe yield to 4.5% of the harvest.
The Association's member companies control 60% of the pollock TAC 2009 in the Sea of Okhotsk embracing four subareas of Kamchatka Kurile, North Okhotsk, West Kamchatka and East Sakhalin. Several large fishing companies of the Russian Far East, which are not members of the Association so far, have already confirmed their wish to support the decision made by the Association.
This decision may have a great impact on the pollock prices in the world (namely for H&G pollock, w/r pollock, pollock fillets and roe) because the Association's members control 44% of the world pollock harvest in the A season. The Association's efforts in pollock fishery management will let stabilize prices and positively influence the financial and economic situation of the Russian fishermen.
At the same time, the decision will not touch the domestic market and pollock prices for the Russian market. In 2008 the Association's member companies shipped pollock products equivalent to 200,000 tonnes of pollock in live weight. In 2009 the volume of shipments may rise if the national banks give the fishermen credits totally worth 7 billion RUB and the retail chains confirm their readiness to order and purchase the extra volume.